


paternal love

by ghostinthebook



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Cute Max Lightwood-Bane, Domestic Fluff, Family, Family Fluff, Father's Day, M/M, but i feel like i did a good job so yay, izzy's mentioned but not enough for me to feel like i should tag her, wrote it quickly so that it could be out today
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-13 09:16:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19248235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostinthebook/pseuds/ghostinthebook
Summary: It's Magnus and Alec's first Father's Day.





	paternal love

**Author's Note:**

> btw by "portable baby carrier" i meant those carseats that you can also carry the baby around in? i don't think i was clear about that in the fic. enjoy!!!

“So,” Jace said, blocking Alec’s punch. “What are you doing for tomorrow?”

“What?” Alec asked, moving to kick Jace’s legs.

“You know what tomorrow is, right?” Jace asked, dodging Alec’s kick, and backing up far enough that Alec knew he was stopping the fight.

“No?” Alec said, going towards his water bottle, right next to the portable baby carrier where his son, Max, was sleeping. He drank some water, sitting down, while checking on Max. His little boy, an adorable navy blue warlock, was still sleeping soundly, without a care in the world. Alec was still smiling slightly when he looked back towards Jace, to see what he was talking about.

“How do you not know? The reason you should care about tomorrow is literally sleeping right next to you,” Jace said, pointing at Max. “Tomorrow’s Father’s Day. You’re a dad. What are you and Magnus doing tomorrow?”

Oh.

It would be his first Father’s Day, as a dad, tomorrow.

Wow.

He hadn’t really thought about it, since he hadn’t celebrated Father’s Day much growing up. When he and Izzy were really young, maybe they did, but he doesn’t really remember any of that. So, it would have been just another Sunday in June to him.

But now, he and Magnus had Max. They were both fathers, so Father’s Day could mean something to them now. He looked at Max, who was stirring slightly in his sleep. He smiled and took Max out of the carrier, being careful to not wake him. He held him in his lap as Jace walked up to them, his own water bottle in hand.

“We didn’t know it’s Father’s Day tomorrow, or at least I didn’t know. I guess I’ll… leave work a lot earlier than usual, and then the three of us will go to dinner somewhere?” Alec said, questioning the last part. It didn’t sound very much like a Father’s Day thing to do, but his son wasn’t even a year old. It wasn’t like Max could get them anything. So, a little “yay, we’re dads” celebration dinner sounded good to Alec.

“That sounds like a good plan, I think. Taki’s?” Jace questioned.

“Yeah, I think Taki’s would work. I’ll make sure Magnus doesn’t have anything planned.” Alec planned on saying a bit more, but then Max looked like he was about to wake up. Just in case, Alec checked Max’s diaper. He wrinkled his nose.

“Gotta go take care of Max’s diaper. I’ll be in my office if you need me,” Alec said to Jace, putting Max back in his carrier and walking, holding him, out the training room.

“Have fun,” Jace said sarcastically. He went back to training, now using a punching bag instead of Alec.

Alec pulled out his phone with his other hand as he walked to his office, opening his contacts and pressing on Magnus’s name. He put his phone up to his ear as he heard Max wake up. He wasn’t worried, yet, because he was almost to his office. He could multitask, talk to Magnus and take care of Max, once he had his hands free.

“Alexander, hi,” Magnus said on the phone. It reminded Alec, inexplicably, of the first phone call he had with Magnus, all that time ago. Wow, how things had changed since then.

Max sniffled, breaking Alec out of his memories. Now was not the time to be sentimental, he thought.

“Hey Magnus,” he said, slightly quickening his pace. He wanted to be in his office when Max inevitably started crying. “Everything’s good over here, before you ask. Do you have any appointments tomorrow?”

There was a pause as, Alec assumes, Magnus checked his schedule.

“No, I don’t believe so. What did you have in mind?”

“Well, tomorrow’s Father’s Day.” Alec paused as he let Magnus process that information. He knew that would be as shocking, or even more so, to Magnus as it was to him. The realization that it would be the first one they could celebrate as fathers themselves.

“Is it, now?” Magnus asked, and Alec could hear the masked emotion in his voice.

“Yeah,” Alec said. “So, I was thinking that tomorrow I could leave early, and we could all go to Taki’s? You, me, Max.”

“Yeah, that sounds great,” Magnus responded. “I’ll make sure my schedule stays clear. See you in a bit, tell Max I love him. Love you,” Magnus said. Alec responded in kind and hung up. He looked at Max as he put his phone in his pocket, and put his now-free hand on the doorknob of his office.

“Papa loves you,” he said. “And I love you, too.”

For a second, Max had a somewhat thoughtful look on his face. Then, like the calm before the storm, his face scrunched up as he began to cry.

Oh well, Alec thought, that was nice while it lasted. Usually, on days where he brought Max to the Institute with him, he’d only be able to do paperwork. Today, though, he had been able to train with Jace while Max napped.

Now, though, it was time to be a dad.

* * *

The next morning, Magnus woke up to a weight on his chest. It took him a second to distinguish whether it was a threat, Max, or Alec’s arm. He let himself wake up a bit more, and he was able to tell that it was Max, sleeping soundly. Max was clutching Magnus’s t-shirt in one hand, and was drooling on it, too. Adorable, was Magnus’s first thought upon seeing the sight.

“Hey, blueberry,” he whispered, patting Max’s back very lightly. He looked around the bed once he realized that him and Max were the only people there; Alec’s side of the bed was cold. He sat up, keeping a firm, gentle hold on Max as he did.

The bedroom door was open, and Magnus could see Alec walking by it. He had his phone in one hand, and was running the other hand through his hair. He was visibly stressed, but it didn’t seem like anything was wrong at the moment, per se. He was still wearing his pajamas, and the walking seemed more like it was because he was doing something, rather than pacing from the phone call. Also, he was talking quietly enough that Magnus couldn’t hear him. All Magnus could hope for is that he wasn’t being called into the Institute. Anything else, they could talk about it soon.

After a second, Alec got off the phone, and finished whatever mystery thing he was doing. In the meantime, Max had woken up, and was poking at Magnus’s face when Alec walked in. Alec was holding a tray with two plates, a small flower, and some baby food on it.

“Oh, good, you guys are awake,” Alec said, putting the tray down on the bed, and sitting down on the bed as well. “I talked with Izzy. She said happy Father’s Day to both of us, by the way. She also said she’d take care of most of the Institute work today, so all I have to do is go in to do some paperwork for about an hour. So, I made breakfast in bed,” he finished, a smile on his face.

Magnus smiled back, and leaned forward to kiss Alec. Alec made up the space between, and kissed him back. They would have kissed for longer, but Alec broke away once they both heard Max say “dada”, and hold his arms out toward Alec. Alec set Max in his lap and grabbed the baby food. Magnus grabbed one of the small plates and a fork, prepared to eat some waffles (or to feed Alec a waffle while Alec feeds Max baby food, he’s not picky). While he was cutting up one of the waffles, he asked Alec a question.

“Is that who you were on the phone with, just now? Isabelle?”

Alec tensed slightly. “No.”

“Who were you talking to, then? If I may ask,” Magnus added. There was always the chance it was some Clave representative or something, getting on his nerves.

Alec didn’t answer right away, choosing instead to feed Max some of the baby food. Magnus let him. After a round or two of that, he answered.

“I was talking to my father,” Alec said. Magnus froze.

“Was he… being civil?” Magnus asked, fearing that the answer would be no.

“Yeah,” Alec said, and Magnus untensed. “I called him, actually. To, uh,” Alec scratched the back of his neck. “To tell him happy Father’s Day. He, uh, he really appreciated that. He wants to see Max again soon. It was… it was a nice call.”

Magnus smiled. He knew that they might never get along as nicely with Robert as they did with Maryse, but this was a start. And he wanted to support whatever Alec did, just like he knew Alec would support what he did. So, if Alec wanted to try to rebuild that relationship with his father, Magnus would survive through more awkward family dinners. It would be worth it.

“Well, then,” Magnus said, summoning two glasses of orange juice and giving one to Alec, lifting the other one in the air. Alec lifted his to meet it. “To many more days like today.” Alec repeated the saying, and they clinked their glasses.

Magnus was so happy that he could finally celebrate that day. He was finally a father, something that he’d never thought he’d be. Life was turning out to be pretty amazing. And since his son was a warlock, like him, he’d have many, many more days like today to celebrate.

“Papa,” Max said, interrupting Magnus’s reflection. “Up!” he said, holding out his arms.

He grabbed Max and held him close to his chest, similar to how he woke up that morning. He kissed Max on the forehead, and then he looked at Alec.

“Happy Father’s Day, Alexander.”

“Happy Father’s Day, Magnus.”


End file.
